Department for Transport

Motor Vehicles: Anti-social Behaviour

Peter Gibson: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of introducing compulsory insurance and DVLA registration for (a) off road bikes and (b) 4x4s to help tackle anti-social behaviour; and what discussions she has had with the Home Secretary to develop a national strategy on this matter.

Katherine Fletcher: The Government keeps compulsory insurance and registration requirements and the vehicles that are covered under review. Currently there are no plans to introduce a change to require compulsory insurance and registration for these vehicles. Whilst there have been no discussions with the Home Secretary to develop a national strategy on this matter, DfT and Home Office officials are in regular discussion on tackling anti-social behaviour on our roads. The police do have powers under the Road Traffic Act 1988 and Police Reform Act 2002 to seize vehicles being used illegally without a valid driving licence or insurance or in an anti-social manner respectively. Decisions on when to use these powers are operational matters for Chief Constables in conjunction with local policing plans. They are best placed to understand how to meet the needs of local communities.

Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

Energy: Carbon Emissions

Christina Rees: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, when he plans to publish a response to the call for evidence on Designing a Framework for Transparency of Carbon Content in Energy Products including any assessment on Renewable Energy Guarantees of Origin.

Graham Stuart: As published in the 15th December Written Ministerial Statement concerning wholesale energy prices and future energy retail market policy, the Department’s work on green tariffs and carbon content was paused to prioritise activity in relation to the unprecedented global increases in gas prices. The Government's immediate priority for retail energy markets is to ensure the successful delivery of the Energy Bill Support Scheme, Energy Price Guarantee and the Energy Bill Relief Scheme, as well as the other support being provided to energy users. The government will set out next steps on the future of the retail market in due course.

Question

Jonathan Edwards: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, with reference to the Government's announcement on plans to help cut energy bills for businesses on 21 September, for what reasons he decided (a) to provide an additional payment of £100 to households across the UK who are not able to receive support for their heating costs through the Energy Price Guarantee and (b) that £100 was a suitable value for that additional support.

Graham Stuart: The additional support, including the level at which it is set, provided to households not eligible for the Energy Price Guarantee (EPG) is intended to ensure that they do not face a higher rate of growth in their heating costs since last autumn, compared to those on gas supported by the EPG.

Fuel Oil: Prices

Angus Brendan MacNeil: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how oil customers will be able to access the £100 one-off support payment towards their energy bills in winter 2022.

Graham Stuart: The Government continues to work at speed to determine the most practical and tested routes to deliver this support and will provide more details in due course.

Fuel Oil and Liquefied Petroleum Gas: Prices

Virginia Crosbie: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what plans his Department have to identify oil and liquified petroleum gas users so that they can benefit from the £100 support announced by the Government.

Graham Stuart: The Government continues to work at speed to determine the most practical and tested routes to deliver this support and will provide more details in due course.

Renewable Energy

Christina Rees: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether any assessment of Renewable Energy Guarantees of Origin will be made in future reviews into Net Zero.

Graham Stuart: Renewable Energy Guarantees of Origin (REGO) play a key role in the carbon accounting framework as well as the marketing of green energy products for consumers. Moving towards a net zero system by 2035, it is vital that these benefits can continue to be quantified and therefore any future reviews of net zero should include the role of REGOs as a consideration.

Science: EU Grants and Loans

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, if he will make an estimate of (a) the number of UK-based scientists who have been informed by the European Research Council that their grant can no longer be taken up in the UK, since 1 January 2022, (b) the number of such grantees who have decided to re-locate, and (c) the total value of European Research Council grants awarded to UK-based scientists since January 2022 that can no longer be taken up in the UK.

Ms Nusrat Ghani: The Government launched the UK Horizon Europe guarantee in November 2021 to make sure successful UK applicants to Horizon Europe, including ERC winners, can access funding from UKRI, instead of the EU. The guarantee is working as planned and take up is strong. According to the EU’s publicly available data, 132 UK-based researchers have won awards from the ERC 2021 calls. The EU does not make information public on additional awards for UK applicants who are promoted from the reserve list. As of 30/09, 152 grant offer letters with a value of £235m have been issued by UKRI to UK ERC winners and the promoted reserve list. The application window remains open for any outstanding winners to apply. Everyone taking up the guarantee will carry out their research in the UK as planned. There is no information available on whether UK winners choose to relocate in order to access ERC or other available funding globally.

Driverless Vehicles: Research

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, with reference to the £66 million of R&D expenditure to support the commercial deployment of connected and self-driving technologies, whether that expenditure is additional to that provided in existing and future (a) UK Research and Innovation budgets and (b) national R&D spend levels and targets; and if he will provide a breakdown of how that expenditure will be allocated on a regional basis.

Ms Nusrat Ghani: The Government has allocated £66 million BEIS R&D to the Centre for Connected and Autonomous Vehicles to pilot commercially sustainable deployments of self-driving services and a growing UK-based supply chain. This targeted funding is additional to wider UK Research and Innovation budgets and supports national R&D spend levels and targets. This funding is available nationally but not regionally allocated due to the independently assessed competition process. Early indications are that there is interest from across the UK.

Heating: Government Assistance

Jonathan Edwards: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, with reference to the £100 of support for households which do not use main gas to heat their homes announced by the Government on 21 September 2022, how that support will be delivered to eligible recipients.

Graham Stuart: The Government continues to work at speed to determine the most practical and tested routes to deliver this support and will provide more details in due course.

Heating: Government Assistance

Jonathan Edwards: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, with reference to the £100 of support for households which do not use main gas to heat their homes announced by the Government on 21 September 2022, whether that payment is a one off payment to cover the duration of the Government's energy price guarantee.

Graham Stuart: The support provided to off-grid households is intended to ensure that they do not face a higher rate of growth in their heating costs since last autumn, compared to those on gas supported by the Energy Price Guarantee. The Government will continue to closely monitor the situation to support all energy users.

Energy: Conservation

Seema Malhotra: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how much public money has been (a) spent on and (b) allocated to improving the energy efficiency of (a) homes, (b) schools and (c) hospitals since January 2020.

Graham Stuart: Between 20/21 and 25/26, the Government committed £3.6 billion to improving least energy efficient homes through Social Housing Decarbonisation, Home Upgrade Grant, Green Homes Grant, Local Authority Delivery and Boiler Upgrade Schemes. The Energy Company Obligation has an estimated spend/size allocation of £4.8bn with additional £1 billion announced on 23rd September 2022. Since October 2022 this is being funded via the Energy Price Guarantee. Over £1 billion has been provided through Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme over 2020/21 and 2021/22 supporting heat decarbonisation and energy efficiency in the public sector including schools and hospitals, with further £1.425 billion will be invested over 2022/23 to 2024/25.

Energy Bill Relief Scheme

Seema Malhotra: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps his Department takes to ensure energy producers pass the Government subsidy provided as part of the Energy Bill Relief Scheme onto their business customers.

Graham Stuart: Energy suppliers will be required to apply the relevant discount to the bills of eligible customers. There will be a robust audit, compliance and enforcement regime to ensure suppliers are applying the rules of the scheme correctly.

Energy: Prices

Mr Mark Harper: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps he has taken to ensure that electricity suppliers have the appropriate information about which homes are not on the gas grid to enable them to make the necessary payments to deliver equivalent support to the Energy Price Guarantee.

Graham Stuart: The Government continues to work at speed to determine the most practical and tested routes to deliver this support and will provide more details in due course.

Nuclear Installations: Ukraine

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, pursuant to the Answer to Question 45194 on Ukraine: Nuclear Installations, what discussions he has had Ukrainian government ministers on the security of Ukraine's nuclear facilities since February 2022.

Graham Stuart: My predecessors and I have maintained regular engagement with our Ukrainian colleagues following the Russian Federation’s illegal invasion of Ukraine, and its reckless actions against nuclear facilities, including at the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power plant and Chornobyl Exclusion Zone.In these conversations, the Government has paid tribute to the immense bravery of Ukrainian staff who continue to operate nuclear facilities safely across Ukraine under the most extreme pressure.

Question

Virginia Crosbie: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, in view of the Government's Net Zero Strategy, what steps he is taking to help facilitate the timely development of wind farms in the Irish Sea, such as Mona offshore windfarm.

Graham Stuart: The Growth Plan announced significant reforms to the planning system to accelerate delivery of major infrastructure projects. This builds on commitments to accelerate offshore wind deployment in the British Energy Security Strategy. This will facilitate timely development of UK offshore windfarms including in the Irish Sea. Measures will reduce planning consent time from up to four years to one. They include a fast-track consenting route, strengthening Renewable National Policy Statements, streamlining habitats regulations assessments, and enabling strategic consideration of environmental issues. The Government will continue to work with the Offshore Wind Acceleration Task Force on further options for acceleration.

Business: Energy

Alex Sobel: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of an exemption from the energy plan subsidy for illuminated advertising signs used by businesses.

Graham Stuart: The Energy Bill Relief Scheme will provide a discount on energy bills for all non-domestic customers including businesses, the voluntary sector and the public sector, whose current gas and electricity prices have been significantly inflated in light of global energy prices. There are no plans specifically to exclude this type of energy use, and it is important that companies are able to conduct their business in a normal way. Businesses are encouraged to consider adjusting their energy use and increase energy efficiency wherever possible, to minimise the impact of energy costs and reduce emissions.

Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme: Finance

Dr Alan Whitehead: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential merits of alternative funding models for the Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme including introducing a long-term funding across financial years.

Graham Stuart: Funding allocations for the Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme are determined as part of the Government’s wider Spending Reviews. The structure of funding provided through the Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme was assessed when designing the scheme and is reviewed regularly, including ahead of new phases of the scheme being implemented. Phase 3a, which opened for applications in October 2021, had a budget of £475m for the first year (Financial Year 2022/23), of which 15% was ring-fenced for multi-year projects. As a result, £80 million has also been committed to these multi-year projects from the 2023/24 and 2024/25 budgets. In the next Phase (3b), the remaining budget for Financial Year 2023/24 will be allocated and, recognising the high demand for multi-year funding, 50% of the remaining funds available in Financial Year 2024/25 will be available. Phase 3b is due to open for applications in October 2022.

Energy: Prices

Liz Saville Roberts: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether green levies will be moved from energy bills to general taxation.

Graham Stuart: Green levies have been temporarily suspended from energy bills as part of the savings delivered by the Energy Price Guarantee which is being funded by the Exchequer.

Fracking: Licensing

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, if he will publish the process by which petroleum Exploration and development licenses will be granted; and whether existing license holders will require new licences to participate in fracking when the moratorium on that process ends.

Graham Stuart: Onshore gas licensing is a matter for the North Sea Transition Authority, which currently has an explanation of the process on its website. Developers already holding licences for shale gas extraction will not require new licences. However, development activities will need to meet rigorous safety and environmental standards set by regulators including the Environment Agency, the Health and Safety Executive, and the North Sea Transition Authority.

Fracking: North Yorkshire

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of fracking on levels of water availability in Yorkshire.

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, if he will take steps to improve water security in North Yorkshire prior to the Government's finalised decision on lifting the moratorium on fracking.

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether his Department has determined the size of control zones covering (a) residential dwellings and (b) businesses in which fracking will not be permitted to take place.

Graham Stuart: The development of shale gas will need to meet rigorous safety and environmental standards set by regulators including the Environment Agency, the Health and Safety Executive, and the North Sea Transition Authority. Drawing on lessons from around the world, the Government will ensure that hydraulic fracturing for shale gas is done with as little environmental impact as possible.

Fracking: North Yorkshire

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, if he will make it his policy to prohibit fracking in (a) York Central constituency, (b) York, (c) the boundary of the City of York unitary authority and (d) North Yorkshire.

Graham Stuart: The Government has neither prioritised nor ruled out development of shale gas in any specific location in England. The Government will be looking to developers to work closely with communities when gathering local support for any potential shale gas projects across the country. Restrictions set out in the Onshore Hydraulic Fracturing Regulations 2015 and in licence conditions ensure that shale gas extraction will not be permitted in wells drilled from our most valued areas including National Parks, Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty and Sites of Specific Scientific Interest.

Business: Energy

Liz Saville Roberts: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what criteria his Department will use to assess which businesses qualify for energy costs support after six months due to their vulnerability.

Graham Stuart: The Government will publish a review of the scheme in three months, which will consider how to support customers who are the most vulnerable to energy price increases. These are likely to be those who are least able to adjust, for example by reducing energy usage or increasing energy efficiency. The review will consider how effective the scheme has been in supporting vulnerable non-domestic customers and which groups of non-domestic customers remain particularly vulnerable to energy price rises. Continuing support to those deemed eligible would begin at the end of the initial 6-month support scheme, without a gap.

Help to Grow Schemes

Jonathan Reynolds: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, pursuant to the Answer on 21 September 2022 to Question 48327 on Help to Grow Schemes, when his Department plans to publish data on the take up of Help to Grow programmes.

Dean Russell: We intend to publish data on take up of both the Help to Grow programmes on the gov.uk website by the end of December.

Pay Settlements

Beth Winter: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, with reference to the Chancellor of the Exchequer oral contribution of 23 September 2022 on the floor of the House, Growth Plan, and the announcement that the Government plans to bring forward legislative proposals to require trade unions to put pay offers to a member vote, what consultation the Government held in advance of that announcement with (a) the TUC, (b) ACAS, (c) the CBI and (d) any other stakeholders.

Dean Russell: The proposals mentioned above will require Primary legislation. The Government intends to bring this forward when parliamentary time allows. The passage of any Bill will give stakeholders the opportunity, via Members of Parliament, to share any concerns or constructive suggestion they may have on this policy.

Office for Product Safety and Standards: Staff

Seema Malhotra: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how many full time equivalent staff are employed by the Office for Product Safety and Standards as on 21 September 2022.

Dean Russell: The Office for Product Safety and Standards protects people and places by delivering front line product regulation for BEIS, DLUHC, Defra and the Office for Zero Emission Vehicles. 423 full time equivalent staff were employed as of 21st September 2022

Small Businesses: Closures

Sarah Olney: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what estimate she has made of the number of small to medium-sized enterprises that have closed down since (a) January 2022, and (b) January 2020.

Dean Russell: From January 2022 until the end of June 2022 there were an estimated total of 251,000 registered business closures[1]. This compares with 276,000 between January and June 2021, 176,000 between January and June 2020 and 178,0000 between January and June 2019[2].From January 2020 until the end of June 2022 there were an estimated total of 1,004,000 registered business closures[3]. The corresponding figure for between January 2017 and June 2019 is 833,000[4].Data is not available to estimate the number of closures for Small and Medium sized Enterprises (SMEs) specifically, however, given 99.9% of registered businesses are SMEs[5], it is likely that the total number of registered business closures is very close to the total number of SME closures.[1] ONS Business demography, quarterly experimental statistics[2] ONS Business demography, quarterly experimental statistics[3] ONS Business demography, quarterly experimental statistics[4] UK business; activity, size and location Statistical bulletins[5] BEIS Business population estimates, 2021

Fuel Oil and Liquefied Petroleum Gas: Prices

Angus Brendan MacNeil: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps he will take to ensure that off-grid energy users are able to receive equal support as people people on-grid beyond the one-off £100 payment.

Graham Stuart: The support provided to off-grid households is intended to ensure that they do not face a higher rate of growth in their heating costs since last autumn, compared to those on gas supported by the Energy Price Guarantee. The Government will continue closely to monitor the situation to support all energy users.

District Heating: Price Caps

Dr Alan Whitehead: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether heat network customers are included in the £100 additional payment outlined in the Growth Plan 2022, as they will not be eligible to receive support for heating costs through the Energy Price Guarantee.

Graham Stuart: Households not on standard gas or electricity contracts, such as those on heat networks – and so outside the available support schemes – will receive support equivalent to both the Energy Price Guarantee and the Energy Bills Support Scheme. The Government is working at pace to determine the most practical and tested routes to deliver this support.

Department of Health and Social Care

Adult Social Care Discharge Fund

Wes Streeting: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether the £500 million winter adult social care discharge fund announced by Government will be funded from existing health and care budgets.

Daisy Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether the winter 2022 adult social care discharge fund announced by the Government on 22 September will be funded from existing health and care budgets.

Robert Jenrick: On 22 September 2022, the Government announced an additional £500 million for adult social care this winter to accelerate the safe discharge of patients from hospital and recruit and retain more care workers to support people who no longer need to be in hospital. The funding will be sourced from underspent budgets, efficiencies and savings opportunities arising in the course of normal financial management from Departmental and National Health Service budgets. Approximately half of the available fund will be derived from resources allocated to NHS employers for the health and care levy, which has become available as the levy will not be in place.

Adult Social Care Discharge Fund

Mr Mark Harper: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care when her Department plans to publish the allocation of the Adult Social Care Discharge Fund to each NHS Trust.

Wes Streeting: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if she will publish regional allocations of the £500million winter adult social care discharge fund.

Neil O'Brien: On 22 September 2022, the Government launched the Adult Social Care Discharge Fund which provides an additional £500 million to accelerate the safe discharge of patients from hospital into social care and recruit and retain care workers to support people who no longer need to be in hospital. The details of the fund, including local allocations, are being finalised, and will be published shortly.

Mental Capacity: Equality

Mr Virendra Sharma: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether her Department has conducted an equality impact assessment on the operation of Deprivation of Liberty Orders.

Neil O'Brien: The Department has not conducted an equality impact assessment which specifically examines the potential equality impact of Deprivation of Liberty Orders.

Evusheld

Mr Mark Harper: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the announcement on 12 August 2022 that Government will not be procuring any doses of Evusheld at this time, what the evidential basis was for that decision.

Robert Jenrick: The decision not to procure Evusheld for prevention through emergency routes at this time, is based on independent clinical advice by the multi-agency RAPID C-19 and a national expert policy working group. These groups considered a range of evidence, including clinical trial data, in vitro analysis and emerging observational studies. The Chief Medical Officer for England is content that the correct process for providing clinical advice has been followed and agrees that this should now be referred to the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence for further evaluation. The Department intends to publish further details of the clinical advice received shortly.

General Practitioners: Working Hours

Huw Merriman: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the publication General Practice Workforce, published by NHS Digital on 31 August 2022, what assessment she has made of the implications for her policies of 23 per cent. of GPs working more than 37.5hrs per week compared to 32 per cent. five years ago; and if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of reforming the funding model for GP practices so that funding is allocated per patient contact.

Will Quince: Between June 2017 and June 2022, the number of full-time equivalent doctors in general practice grew by 1,340. There are no current plans to assess or amend the funding model for general practitioner practices.

Department for Education

Apprentices: Taxation

Mr Richard Holden: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how much apprenticeship levy did educational providers (a) spend, and (b) return to treasury in each financial year since 2017/18.

Andrea Jenkyns: The apprenticeship levy is an important part of the department’s reforms to create a high-quality, employer-led apprenticeships system, and it supports employers of all sizes to invest in high-quality apprenticeship training.As employers, education providers with a pay bill of £3 million or more will pay the apprenticeship levy. The department does not collect data on the nature or sector in which employers operate, and so it does not hold the data requested.The funds in levy-paying employers’ apprenticeship service accounts are available for them to use for apprenticeship training and assessment for 24 months, at which point unused funds begin to expire on a rolling, month-by-month basis.Separately, the department is set an annual apprenticeships budget by His Majesty’s Treasury (HMT). The value of this annual budget is not the same as the funds which are available in levy-paying employers’ accounts for 24 months. The annual apprenticeships budget funds apprenticeships for all employers, including those who do not pay the apprenticeship levy, and is also used to cover the cost of end-point assessment, English and maths tuition, and additional payments made to employers, providers, and apprentices.As is usual practice, any underspends in overall departmental budgets by the end of the financial year are first returned to HMT as per the consolidated budgeting guidance. This is accessible at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/consolidated-budgeting-guidance-2021-to-2022.

Ministry of Defence

Office for Veterans' Affairs

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what recent discussions his Department has had with the Office for Veterans Affairs on Ben Parkinson's case in the context of the Sunday Times investigation published on 4 September; and what his planned timetable is for reviewing the circumstances of Ben Parkinson's case.

Sarah Atherton: As my answer contains personal information, I will write to the hon. Member shortly.

Department for Work and Pensions

State Retirement Pensions: Applications

Lloyd Russell-Moyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, for what reason eligible pensioners who have experienced delays in receiving their State Pension invitation do not have the option to apply for their pension via an online form or via a form that can be downloaded and printed from the Government website.

Alex Burghart: If a customer’s State Pension age is pre 6th April 2016 they can download a BR1 claim form from Gov.uk. For customers whose State Pension Age is after 6th April 2016 they can use the online ‘Get Your State Pension’ (GySP) digital service to complete their claim. Customers who do not receive an invitation to claim their State Pension can use the online service to request a claim invitation to be sent to them. A claim invitation code can be used for up to 15 months from being issued. If a customer does not wish to use the online service and requires a clerical claim form to complete, this can be obtained by contacting the new claims telephony line. Additionally, claims can be made by telephone where the claim may be gathered and processed while the customer is on the phone. If the customer requires an accessible version of the form that can also be provided on request.

Pension Credit: Publicity

Steve McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how much her Department has spent on Pension Credit awareness campaigns in each since 1 January 2019.

Alex Burghart: A targeted, time-limited pilot campaign to promote Pension Credit in early 2020 included advertising in GP surgeries, Post Offices and social media at a cost of £65,000. Activity was curtailed by the early impact of the pandemic.In 2021, the Department ran proactive press and social media activity at no cost, focused around the Pension Credit ‘day of action’ on 15 June.The current Pension Credit take up campaign, aimed at pensioners and their family members, was launched in April 2022. The total budget committed to the paid campaign so far this year, including paid press advertising, is £1.2m, and the campaign is continuously monitored and optimised to deliver the best value for the money spent.Our internal management information suggests that during the week of this year’s Pension Credit ‘day of action’ in June there was a 275% increase in claims compared to the same week in 2021.This activity is in addition to the Pension Credit material included in the annual uprating mailing, which is sent to over 11m pensioners in Great Britain.

Pension Credit: Electronic Government

Steve McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many times was the online pension credit toolkit was accessed in each year since 1 January 2019.

Alex Burghart: The Pension Credit toolkit is an on-line tool aimed at agencies and welfare rights organisations to help them encourage Pension Credit take-up. The toolkit contains resources for anyone working with pensioners and includes guides to Pension Credit. It also contains publicity material and guidance designed to help older people understand how they could get Pension Credit and help organisations support someone applying for Pension Credit as well as ideas for encouraging take-up. The toolkit also provides links to information about disability and carers benefits. The specific information requested around the number of times the toolkit was accessed is not available. Since December 2019, citizens have the ability to opt-in to use performance cookies on GOV.UK and therefore DWP only sees data from the sample of those who accept these cookies. This means that we cannot use the data available to accurately reflect the total number of visits to the Pension’s toolkit. The data collected is primarily used for identifying trends in how citizens use and move within DWP content on the Gov.uk site.

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

Animals: Overseas Trade

Alex Sobel: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made of the possibility of a sanitary and phytosanitary agreement to overcome regulatory barriers to the transportation of animals for conservation breeding programs.

Scott Mann: The sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) chapter of the United Kingdom-EU Trade and Cooperation Agreement puts in place a framework that allows the United Kingdom and the EU to take informed decisions to reduce their respective SPS controls, with a commitment to avoid unnecessary barriers. It is in both the United Kingdom’s and the EU's interests to use this framework to reduce or streamline SPS checks where possible, ensuring that they are proportionate to the biosecurity risks.The EU's Official Control Regulations require conservation breeding animals are imported into the EU via a suitable Border Control Post (BCP), which currently prevents movements by sea across the short straits, where no BCP is present. As conservation animals are largely non-harmonised (have individual health requirements depending on the country), this presents additional complexities, with individual health certificates required for each EU member state. Defra is exploring specific options with delivery partners to try to overcome some of these burdens.

Water Supply: Weather

Julian Sturdy: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, with reference to the extreme weather during summer 2022, what steps his Department is taking to ensure sufficient domestic reserves of water.

Trudy Harrison: Despite the dry summer, water companies in England have assured us that essential water supplies remain resilient across the country. It is their duty to maintain those supplies. Defra Ministers expect water company action in accordance with their pre-agreed drought plans. HM Government recognises the need to continue to improve the resilience of our water supplies and is committed to a twin track approach to improving water resilience, which is set out in our Strategic Policy Statement to Ofwat, Written Ministerial Statement on Water Demand and in the 25 Year Environment Plan. This involves investing in new supply infrastructure and action to reduce water company leaks and improve water efficiency. The National Framework for Water Resources, published in March 2020, sets out the strategic water needs for England to 2050 and beyond. HM Government is requiring water companies to plan to deliver resilience to a one in 500-year drought that is not needing to resort to emergency measures, such as standpipes and rota cuts. Water companies are also using the £469 million made available by Ofwat in the current Price Review period (2019-2024) to progress the infrastructure required. In autumn 2022, water companies will publish their statutory draft Water Resources Management Plans for consultation, which will set out how they will improve drought resilience and secure water supplies in the long term.

Incinerators

Jane Hunt: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to manage the capacity of existing waste incinerators throughout the country so that over capacity does not encourage waste destruction rather than repair, reuse and recycling.

Trudy Harrison: Energy from waste should not compete with greater waste prevention, reuse or recycling. Defra is currently working to set the long-term commitments of the Resources and Waste Strategy for England (RWS) into legislation under the 2021 Environment Act through legally binding targets, including a target on waste reduction. Defra continues to engage with the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities regarding planning for waste infrastructure and, as per the RWS commitment, continues to monitor England's waste infrastructure capacity and associated infrastructure requirements.

Deposit Return Schemes

Martyn Day: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what criteria will he use to assess the effectiveness of the Deposit Return Scheme proposals in delivering maximum environmental benefit.

Trudy Harrison: The Deposit Return Scheme (DRS) objectives include boosting recycling levels, offering greater opportunities to collect higher quality, uncontaminated materials in greater quantities thus promoting a circular economy and reducing littering. Last year's consultation proposed that a key feature of the policy would be an ambitious 90% collection target for in-scope material which could be phased in, to ensure the ongoing high performance of the DRS.

Deposit Return Schemes

Martyn Day: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps his Department has taken during its establishment of the Deposit Return Scheme to ensure that it is fairly and equitably implemented to avoid adverse effects for the markets.

Trudy Harrison: HM Government has consulted twice on the introduction of a Deposit Return Scheme (DRS). Final details and the next steps for the DRS will be presented in HM Government's response to last year's consultation. We are working towards publication in late 2022. We will continue to work with industry and the Devolved Administrations to ensure that the scheme is delivered efficiently and effectively, and that it aligns with upcoming packaging reforms.

Horticulture: Peat

Bill Esterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, with reference to the ban on the use of peat in horticulture announced by the Government in September 2022, which plants he plans to exempt from that ban.

Trudy Harrison: The proposed ban will be framed in such a way as to provide time limited exemptions for the professional horticulture sector, in order to allow time to overcome technical barriers to ending the use of peat. Officials are currently consulting with horticulture industry representatives to inform our detailed proposals.

Home Office

Drugs: Organised Crime

Ms Lyn Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to New support for victims of county lines exploitation, published on 24 September 2022, how much funding will be allocated to support services in London, for each of the next three years.

Jeremy Quin: We are determined to crack down on county lines gangs and that is why, through the ten-year Drugs Strategy, we are investing up to £145m over three years in our successful County Lines Programme.As part of that, in order to support those exploited, this financial year we are awarding not-for-profit organisation Catch22 up to £1.035m to deliver a specialist support service in London, the West Midlands, Merseyside and Greater Manchester. These are the four biggest exporting areas for county lines activity, aligning with the wider investment in police forces as part of the County Lines Programme.We are awarding up to £1.5m in both financial years 2023/24 and 2024/25. Separate allocations have not been made by area.As part of the package of support, funding will also be allocated to continue the delivery of the national confidential and anonymous helpline ‘SafeCall’, delivered across England and Wales by Missing People – including bespoke support for parents and carers.

Anti-social Behaviour: Motor Vehicles

Peter Gibson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether she has made an estimate of how many off-road (a) motorbikes and (b) cars have been involved in reports of antisocial behaviour in the last 12 months.

Jeremy Quin: The Home Office has not made an estimate of how many off-road motorbikes and cars have been involved in reports of anti-social behaviour.

Police: Recruitment

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to the plan announced on 5 September 2019 to recruit 20,000 new police officers, by when she expects this target to be met.

Jeremy Quin: The Government is on track to recruitment an additional 20,000 police officers across England and Wales by March 2023. As at 30 June 2022, 13,790 additional officers have been recruited across 43 forces in England and Wales as part of the Police Uplift Programme. The next quarterly police uplift data will be published on 26 October showing progress to 30 September 2022.

Cars: Theft

Ruth Cadbury: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of trends in the level of car thefts in England in the last three years.

Ruth Cadbury: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, when the National Vehicle Crime Working Group last met.

Ruth Cadbury: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to reduce the number of (a) car and (b) catalytic converter thefts in England.

Jeremy Quin: The Government works closely with the National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC) lead for vehicle crime, the police and motor manufacturers through the National Vehicle Crime Working Group (NVCWG), taking forward a programme of work to prevent and reduce theft of and from vehicles. Through the NVCWG a network of vehicle crime specialists has been established, involving every police force in England and Wales, to ensure better sharing of information and intelligence.The most recent meeting of the NVCWG took place on 23 June 2022.The Government is also working closely with the National Infrastructure Crime Reduction Partnership (NICRP) to tackle theft of catalytic converters. The Home Office provided seed corn funding in 2021 to set-up the NICRP, the work of which ensures national co-ordination of policing and law enforcement partners to tackle metal theft, providing training, sharing intelligence to target offenders, and implementing crime prevention measures.

Fire and Rescue Services: Industrial Disputes

Mrs Sharon Hodgson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether her Department has taken recent steps to ensure that fire service employers hold discussions with representatives of the Fire Brigades Union on a settlement to avoid potential industrial action.

Jeremy Quin: Setting firefighter pay is the responsibility of employers, working through the National Joint Council: the Home Office does not fund firefighter pay.A significantly increased 5% pay offer has been made by employers and I hope that industrial action can be avoided.

Terrorism: Stop and Search

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, on how many occasions a person has been stopped and searched under Section 47A of the Terrorism Act 2000 in (a) Romford, (b) Havering.

Jeremy Quin: The Home Office collects and publishes data on stop and searches carried out under Section 47A of the Terrorism Act 2000. Data are published at Police Force Area level only.Data are available on a quarterly basis in the ‘Operations of police powers under the Terrorism Act 2000 and subsequent legislation’ statistical release, the latest of which covers the period to June 2022. However, the statistics show there have been no stop and searches in England and Wales under this power since 2018.Data on searches carried out under this power are also published alongside other stop and search statistics in the annual ‘Police powers and procedures’ statistical bulletin. The accompany open data tables provide a time series for use of this power by Police Force Area.

HM Passport Office: Lost Property

Wera Hobhouse: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the implications of situations where HM Passport Office has lost supporting documents for first-time adult British passport applications, withdrawn these applications and asked the applicant to bear the costs of resubmitting a new application and applying for new supporting documents; and if she will make a statement.

Tom Pursglove: While the loss of documents by HM Passport Office is rare, any losses are taken extremely seriously. It is HM Passport Office's policy to reimburse any reasonable out of pocket expenses as a result of any error, which includes the replacement of lost documents. Where it has been determined that a passport application has been withdrawn in error, the customer will be invited to submit a replacement application at no further cost.

Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities

Local Government Finance: Blackpool

Scott Benton: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what additional funding was provided to Blackpool Council (a) to support businesses, and b) for public service provision during the covid-19 pandemic.

Dehenna Davison: During the Covid-19 pandemic, the Government delivered an unprecedented package of support for business. Nearly £27 billion was allocated to local authorities throughout England for Business Grant Support in 2020-21 and 2021-22, including over £135 million to Blackpool Council  During this period the Government also allocated over £15 billion directly to local authorities in England in 2020-21 and 2021-22 to tackle the impacts of Covid-19. Blackpool Council received £56.7 million in direct funding, of which £21.8 million was un-ringfenced.

Parking: Codes of Practice

Andrew Selous: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, when the Private Parking Code of Practice will come into force.

Dehenna Davison: The Private Parking Code of Practice has been temporarily withdrawn to review the decisions to introduce new levels of private parking charges and to ban additional fees that are currently added on top of the late or unpaid parking charge. While I am not able to confirm when the Code will be reissued, I would like to reassure my honourable friend that my department continues to work with industry and consumer groups to do this as quickly as possible. We are committed to reissuing a Code that provides both the best possible protection for motorists and enables effective management of parking.

Electric Vehicles: Charging Points

Christopher Pincher: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what steps he is taking to ensure that levelling up funding, such as the Future High Street Fund, helps to ensure adequate provision of electric charging infrastructure for (a) cars and (b) mobility scooters in towns.

Dehenna Davison: This department is committed to the net zero strategy that was published in 2021. The ten-point plan for a green industrial revolution includes the commitment of accelerating a shift to zero emission vehicles. Our levelling up funds support this commitment.As part of our £3.6 billion Towns Fund, we have encouraged towns to develop interventions to increase resilience and prosperity and contribute to the United Kingdom's overarching goal to be zero carbon by 2050. This includes funding electric charging infrastructure like the £400,000 investment into providing 20 additional charging spaces in Newcastle under Lyme.In addition, through our £4.8 billion Levelling Up Fund we are investing in transport projects to reduce carbon emissions, improve air quality, cut congestion, support economic growth, and improve the safety, security and overall experience of transport users. Bids for the second round of funding closed on 2 August 2022 and we welcome the wide range of bids we have received which will help improve and support communities across the United Kingdom. These are currently being assessed and we expect an announcement on successful bids later this year.

Buildings: Solar Power

Mr Mark Harper: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, if he will make it his policy to allow installation of solar panels as a permitted development right in (a) domestic property, and (b) business premise where physically practical.

Lee Rowley: To support the generation of renewable energy there are a range of permitted development rights that allow for the installation of microgeneration equipment, including rooftop solar panels on domestic and non-domestic properties, without having to make a planning application.We will keep the existing permitted development rights for solar equipment under regular review.

Leasehold: Reform

Matthew Pennycook: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, whether his Department intends to introduce legislation to enact the second phase of leasehold reform within this Parliament.

Lee Rowley: We are due to bring forward further Leasehold reforms later in this parliament.

Community Development: Religion

Sir Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, which Minister in his Department is responsible for faith community engagement.

Paul Scully: As with all departmental business, the Secretary of State maintains overall responsibility for the work of the department. My noble friend Baroness Scott of Bybrook supports the Secretary of State on faith community engagement.

Housing: Fire Prevention

Florence Eshalomi: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, when the full unsafe building remediation contract between his Department and participating developers, which was due to be finalised on 10 August, will be published.

Paul Scully: The Government published a draft of the developer remediation contract on 13 July 2022 and has since received comments and held discussions on the draft with various parties. We are currently working with developers and other stakeholders to finalise the terms of the contract and we will publish the final form of the contract as soon as possible.

Help to Buy Scheme

Justin Tomlinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, how many people have taken part in the Help to Buy scheme.

Lee Rowley: Equity Loan supports the Government's commitment to increasing home ownership. The scheme offers an equity loan of up to 20% (up to 40% in London) of the purchase price of a new-build home.Equity Loan has helped over 361,000 households buy a new-build home from its launch in spring 2013 until the end of March 2022.

Scotland Office

Innovation and Spaceflight: Scotland

Gary Sambrook: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, what recent discussions he has had with Cabinet colleagues on the potential merits of increasing support for Scotland's space exploration and innovation sector.

David Duguid: The UK Government is working closely with colleagues in the Scottish Government, and with innovation and enterprise agencies, to maximise the opportunities offered by launch from Scotland - and ensure the benefits are shared across the UK.Scotland Office Ministers attended the Farnborough Airshow in July, meeting with a number of industry stakeholders with a large footprint in Scotland, demonstrating the UK Government's ongoing commitment to the space sector.

Ports: Disease Control

Dame Meg Hillier: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, what recent assessment he has made with Cabinet colleagues of the adequacy of trade and biosecurity controls at the ports of Cairnryan and Stranraer.

David Duguid: Through the Port Infrastructure Fund, the UK Government has provided over £600,000 to Cairnryan and Loch Ryan to build the infrastructure needed for customs and biosecurity checks.And while biosecurity is the responsibility of the Scottish Government, our two Governments work together to ensure that biosecurity is maintained.

Tax Rates and Bands: Scotland

Theresa Villiers: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, what discussions he has had with (a) Cabinet colleagues and (b) the Scottish Government on tax rates in Scotland and other parts of the UK.

Mr Alister Jack: The Growth Plan takes steps to deliver a pro-growth tax system that provides the conditions needed for businesses and people to succeed.Our plans to cut income and property tax south of the border will generate additional funding for the Scottish Government over this spending period – adding to its already record annual block grant of £41 billion.

Cabinet Office

Christopher Pincher

Mr Kevan Jones: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answer of 21 September 2022 to Question 47378, whether steps were taken to assess whether communications were made by his Department to the BBC between 29 June 2022 and 3 July 2022 concerning the conduct of the Rt hon. Member for Tamworth.

Edward Argar: The Cabinet Office has examined its official records and found no communication with the BBC regarding the Rt Hon. Member for Tamworth between 29th June and 3rd July.

Treasury

Help to Buy Scheme: Individual Savings Accounts

Mr Gregory Campbell: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will review the qualifying level of housing valuation for Help to Buy ISA's, in the context of increased house prices over the past three years.

Andrew Griffith: The Help to Buy: ISA scheme aims to help first time buyers to save enough to get onto the housing ladder. As first-time buyers tend to buy smaller (and therefore cheaper) first properties, the scheme’s property price cap of £250,000 for properties outside London (£450,000 within London) allows the Government to target support more precisely at the people the scheme is intended to help. Since its launch in 2015, the scheme has supported 497,940 property completions across the UK, with a mean property value of £176,125 compared with an average first-time buyer house price of £231,704. While the Government keeps all aspects of savings policy under review, Help to Buy: ISA account holders can transfer their funds to a Lifetime ISA without incurring any penalties. The Lifetime ISA allows first-time buyers to benefit from the Government bonus when purchasing properties up to £450,000 anywhere in the UK. Further information on the Lifetime ISA together with a comprehensive list other forms of home purchase support schemes can be found on the Government’s website below: https://www.ownyourhome.gov.uk/

Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport

Queen's Awards for Voluntary Service: Lancashire

Paul Maynard: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, if she will publish a list the organisations that have received the Queen's Award for Voluntary Service in the boroughs of (a) Fylde, (b) Blackpool and (c) Wyre in each of the last five years.

Stuart Andrew: Three volunteer groups based in Fylde, Blackpool or Wyre have received The Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service over the last five years. These are:2020 Blackpool Heritage Tram Tours (Blackpool)2022 Friends of Stanley Park and Salisbury Woodland (Blackpool)2022 Healthier Fleetwood (Wyre)The award is made annually to outstanding local volunteer-led groups across the whole UK. Lancashire has been well represented over this period, with a total of 34 awards over the last five years.

Casinos: Licensing

Scott Benton: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, whether her Department has made an assessment of the potential economic impact of reducing the licensing requirements on casinos.

Damian Collins: The Government is conducting a wide-ranging and evidence-led Review of the Gambling Act 2005. This includes consideration of the legislative landscape for casinos, in particular the distinction between the new style casinos allowed by the 2005 Act and the majority of casinos whose licences align with provisions originating in the Gambling Act 1968. We will publish a White Paper setting out our conclusions and next steps in due course and appropriate consideration of impacts will be made at all stages.

Arts: Industry

Jeff Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, when her Department plans to publish the Creative Industries Sector Vision.

Julia Lopez: As noted in the Growth Plan 2022, the UK has world leading creative industries, and one of the UK’s structural economic strengths is the soft power that derives from our cultural exports. The Creative Industries Sector Vision will set out our ambition to stimulate the growth of creative businesses across the UK through to 2030. We will publish it in due course.

5G and 6G: Blackpool

Scott Benton: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what funding her Department has made available to support the rollout of 5g and 6g broadband in Blackpool.

Julia Lopez: We have seen good early progress in 5G network deployment, and are pleased that two Mobile Network Operators now offer 5G to more than 50% of the UK population. This delivers on our ambition for the majority of the population to have access to 5G by 2027 five years early. Our Wireless Infrastructure Strategy will set out how we can realise the full benefits of 5G for the UK. We aim to publish later this year.We have made reforms to the planning system in England to support the deployment of 5G and help extend mobile coverage. Alongside this, the Product Security and Telecommunications Infrastructure Bill, currently before Parliament, amends the Electronic Communications Code to encourage faster and more collaborative negotiations for the installation and maintenance of telecoms equipment.The next generation of mobile technology, referred to as “6G”, is still some years away and is currently in the early stages of development. We want to ensure that the UK continues to be at the forefront of future communications systems and technology. We will set out more details on our policy for 6G in the Wireless Infrastructure Strategy.

Women and Equalities

Ministerial Responsibility

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, if he will make an assessment of the potential impact of the change in ministerial title from Minister for Women and Equalities to Minister for Equalities on (a) the scope of his ministerial brief, (b) his ministerial objectives and (c) future Government policy.

Nadhim Zahawi: The Minister for Equalities’ role represents all aspects of the women and equalities portfolio in Cabinet. This portfolio has not changed. The Cabinet role will be supported by the Minister for Women and the equalities Lords Minister.The regular Women and Equalities Questions session in the Commons also retains that name, to reflect its scope including women’s issues. Details of Ministerial priorities will be shared in due course.